Since the IT film remake, Stephen King's works have become relevant again and studios are whipping up books to spin into new film IPs like it's going out of fashion. Cue Netflix's cash in on the action: In The Tall Grass.
Before I go any further, spoilers within.
The trailer was pretty cool, it was tense and exciting and it had Patrick Wilson in it who I think is a rather underrated actor and he's been great playing Ed Warren in the Blumhouse horror films. So me and the missus plonked our butts in bed on a Sunday night and gave it a whirl and well I can safely say my wife did not enjoy it. Her words were "too much fucking grass", to be exact. I on the other hand, would not say I didn't enjoy it but neither did I enjoy it if that makes any sense. I was compelled to watch it, the premise was interesting enough for me to want to watch it to the end but unfortunately there is no "ahhh" moment at the end. It just wraps itself up fairly tidily and ends.
The films biggest issue is the lack of character development, a group of people are just thrown in the field with no actual backstory save for Becky and Travis, the latter of which comes looking for Becky after she went missing for so long. I actually liked Travis and he was the only real likeable character in the whole film. Oddly enough, I think judging from a quick read of Wikipedia, Travis is unique to the film. But yeah, with such paper thin characters it hard to care. It's not like the film has a load of disposable characters to kill off in interesting ways it spends most of it's time with Becky, Travis and Ross (the film's acting villain). That's some slim pickings for a film that's almost two hours.
I liked the whole deal with the rock in the field and that it was never clear if the rock manipulated the local space and time or if the field itself had become sentient due to the rock. It had that Lovecraftian spookiness to it, but the way the film wraps undermines the laws the films teaches in the beginning and rather than go for an interesting and gloomier end it goes for a cheap and unsatisfying happy ending.
So is it worth your time? Well at least it won't hit your wallet as part of Netflix's lineup. But honestly, there are better films to watch for an hour and a half. The ending is fairly weak and is a bit of a slap in the face for anyone that sat through the entire film. Most of the run time is in the grass, maybe twenty minutes of it occur outside the grass, so be warned. You may find yourself a tad bored.
For the last few weeks I'd been seeing people online talking about an amazing show called Kingdom, it peaked my interest and I was even more excited when I found out the show was a Netflix exclusive. The recommendation was not misplaced; Kingdom is a fantastic twist on the zombie apocalypse formula, merging it with politics and class divide.
The story centres around the young Crown Prince Yi-Chang (Ju Ji-hoon), the illigitimate son of the King. His position to the throne is compromised by the impending birth of his brother, mothered by the young Queen, the two are clearly not on good terms.
The King is announced to have passed away, which should have meant that Yi-Chang would assume the throne, but the King's closest aide Minister Cho Hak-jo claims the King is merely very unwell and bans any and all visitors other than the Queen and himself.
Yi-Chang seeking to discover the truth and suspecting that the Minister Cho Hak-jo has sinister plans on the Royal seat, leaves the city to discover the truth of what happened to his father which sends him on an adventure around Korea and face to face with the walking dead.
The story is really interesting, the plot flows very well with the political plot twists side by side with the zombie attacks. The poor and enfeeble are left to die whilst the high classes are protected, but as the ranks of the undead swell with the bodies of the poor the lines between rich and poor begin to diminish and co-operation to survive becomes paramount.
Yi-Chang is the iconic honorable prince, a man of the people. He doesn't share the same greater than personality of other nobles and risks his life many times to save his fellow countryman. He is a charismatic leader and you can relate to how readily the people rally beside him. An master swordsman and taciturn, he is a decisive decision maker and is for the most part the most responsible individual for dealing with the outbreak.
Aside from the Crown Prince, there is a host of supporting characters such as Yi-Chang's personal bodyguard Moo-Young (Kim Sang-ho) who provides some comic relief but is also the stalwart companion that serves the Prince with utter devotion.
Seo-bi (Bae Doo-na), a medical physician whose courage and intelligence is even greater than that of the Crown Prince. She is obsessed with finding a cure to the plague.
Obviously there are the antagonists as well, such as the aforementioned Minister Cho Hak-jo and the Queen who work together to control the country from behind the scenes. The two are incredibly sinister and vicious, the Queen and her two aides probably moreso, who commit some pretty vile crimes in the course of their machinations.
The show is beautiful, production values were amazingly high, the sets are brilliant and full of so many details and there's a great deal of variety in the locales the show visits. Vistas of beauty destroyed in the devastation of the zombie outbreak, whom themselves are disgusting visages of the poor and weak. Everything about Kingdom oozes quality.
Kingdom many not be to everyone's taste, firstly the dubbing is pretty awful. It's the usual over-the-top caricature like accents that plague such programs. Do yourself a favour and watch it in it's own language with subtitles.
The first two episodes are fairly slow, with it setting up the plot and the characters, you don't actually get to see a great deal of zombie chaos until episode three and from there it's all very gripping stuff. At only six episodes long, it's a bit rough to lose a third of your show to establishing everything and especially as it feels like it's all over so quick once it does get underway.
Kingdom is a brilliant show and a fantastic twist on the zombie apocolypse scenario. Joseon Korea is a place I've never been exposed to and I find it a wholly interesting locale and time. I really enjoyed Kingdom and I can't wait for the next season (which is already in pre-production apparently).
I wholly recommend Kingdom to any fans of the zombie genre and are looking for something with an extra twist.
Sex Education is a teen comedy/drama that stars Asa Butterfield as the sixth former Otis Milburn, a sexually repressed son of sex therapist and published author Jean Milburn (Gillian Anderson).
Otis joins the Moordale secondary school and along with his friend Eric (Ncuti Gatwa), the pair are a couple of outcasts in the school. Eric is bullied daily by the school bully Adam Groff (Connor Swindells), but an opportunity to spare his friend arises and with the aid of an intelligent but self destructive girl called Maeve (Emma Mackey), Otis is able to give his best friend some reprieve. Turns out, having a mom for a therapist has imparted some skills onto Otis and he's able to use them to help the school bully with an issue of a sexual nature. The quick thinking Maeve pounces on the chance to monopolise the other students sexual problems with the aid of Otis whom haplessly begins to develop feelings for Maeve, who has a very hard time getting close to anyone. The series primarily focuses on the developing relationship between these two leads and the situations the two find themselves in as they run the convert school sex clinic.
I was hooked on this show as soon as the first episode ended, it's got great characters who are very well written and acted. The dialogue is smart and every actor is on point at making each character believable. There's a lot of stereotypes here, but it's all done so well it doesn't matter.
As well as a great cast of primary characters, the secondary characters bring just as much to the table and help flesh out the primary characters, such as Eric's introverted father. The show does a great job of subverting your expectations of the two's relationship and it really pays off.
The parent and child interactions and growth is interwoven between the relationships of the student, adding to the sense of overwhelm that young adults go through at that turbulent time; the peer pressure of their friends and the expectancy of their parents. This show captures it all whilst at the same time being hilariously candid about sex.
If you're looking for a show that's aiming to tackle subjects deeply, then Sex Education won't provide that. It's a light hearted show that focuses on character development above making a statement about homophobia, bullying or peer pressure. Sex Education is a show that you can watch and escape into, disappear into it's time bending aesthetic. I mention that because it's been a bit of a sticking point for some, generally speaking most characters and places look like they're from the 70's but then everyone has a smart phone and Otis plays Zelda on his Switch, so it's clearly based in current times.
At 55 minutes a piece and only eight episodes, Sex Education uses it's full run time very well. I think it definetly helps skimming off two hour long episodes to prevent padding through the series.
Sex Education is a great show, great cast, great writing. What's not to like? I wholly recommend watching and I can't wait for season 2!
Hello everyone and welcome to my afterthought on the Netflix original series; "You". Before I go any further I will be spoiling the show, this is sort of my opinions on the show and it's better you watch the show first and then read this after and see if you agree with some of my thoughts or whatever and leave a comment, have a chat or debate about it.
With that said, I'm also going to be assuming a lot so I won't be detailing plot synopsis or anything like that.
JOE GOLDBERG
Joe is a strange guy, that much really didn't need saying but it's the depth of his strange behaviour and compulsions that make him such an interesting character. He is a single, well trimmed, neat and charming man. He looks after his neighbour's son with fatherly tenderness, the complete opposite of what Mooney showed him. Joe does impart his love of books to Paco that he did learn from Mooney however.
There is little history revealed about Mooney and Joe's relationship that would indicate the degree Mooney's method of raising him affected the boy and made him the man he is today. We are shown that Mooney clearly has a protective affection for Joe with his comfort after Joe's presumably first kill. (Candace's fling)
The entire show is almost from Joe's perspective and we're treated to all of his internal windings; on the surface Joe comes across as a calm and controlled guy. He has a handle on things and is an incredible quick thinker and expert manipulator but, we see this demeanour fall apart on several occasions and towards the end we actually see Joe lose his sense of control. The way he deals with Beck is clear evidence of the fragility of his outward persona and further, inability to understand why people do not see things as he sees them.
The funny thing is, Joe claims the things he does, he does for Beck. When he murders Benji it's because Benji is dangerous to Beck, at least that's Joe's rational. The truth is we saw Joe's jealously unfurl and the extent he is willing to go to manipulate a situation. When he does commit the murders it also shows another aspect of the character; who as stated is on the whole so calm and in control. When Joe does kill it's impulsive. He doesn't think about it and plot it out from all angles, even poisoning Benji was impulsive. It's clearly a whim because once he has killed him he doesn't know what to do with the body and spends so much time deliberating about it the corpse starts going off! Joe is in fact, not a cold, calculated killer. He's an impulsive and emotional one.
Joe has a strange sense of self preservation, one that we're assuming has been nurtured by Mooney. Ultimately, everything Joe does for Beck is for himself. Killing Benji assures he is out of the picture, that Beck's crutch shag is gone for good. Killing Peaches means he has no further competition for Beck's time and attention, (even though she was tiring of Peaches antics, partly thanks to Joe anyway for revealing Peaches manipulations with the book agent).
In the end, Joe's self preservation is so much greater, that he kills Beck to save himself. And that in itself proves that everything Joe did for Beck was for himself, if he was as madly in love with her as he claimed to be. He would of let her go and submit himself to the authority's. If this woman was everything he lived for, then why kill her and then carry on as normal? Joe doesn't love Beck, he loves the idea of being madly in love, an obsession cultivated by his time spent with the old novels of romance, duty and sacrifice.
I like that the show has us always in the mind of Joe, there's a scene where Joe is talking to Paco about the book It, and that Stephen King would write chapters from the monsters' perspective, so that the reader would understand their motivations and perhaps impart sympathy to the monster.
You, does a great job of having us sympathise with Joe. In fact, if like me (and other people I've spoken to) for a large portion of the show you'll utter the words, "Joe, you could do so much better than Beck". In the final episode, any goodwill Joe garners from the audience is destroyed as his cool facade disintegrates in front of us and Beck and the real abhorrent lunatic is revealed. One of the TVs more interesting characters none the less.
GWENEVERE BECK
Oh Beck, you're a mess of a person and a fine case for a bad partner in a relationship. She is self absorbed, pretentious, self pitying and has terrible infidelity issues. Joe is immediately fascinated with Beck not only because of the way she looks but also, because like him, she has love of words, poetry and books.
Beck spends a lot of the show making wrong decision after wrong decision, screwing over Joe in personal and emotional ways, whilst he spends all of his free time trying to make her happy. If Joe is the protagonist in this film then Beck is the antagonist. She throws all the walls up in their relationship and it's only when she loses Joe to Karen Minty does Beck finally realise what's gone.
Her impact on Joe though is pronounced, she draws out the darkest and lightest parts of his personality, opposed to Karen who sedates Joe's crueller aspects.
Even after the end of their relationship he still idolises her, regularly checking up on her via social media. When Beck decides she wants him back, all it takes is a glance and a smile and she has Joe back, wrapped around her finger, or so it would seem.
Truth is, as we know from my analysis on Joe, he does everything for Beck for himself. Beck actually has little power in their relationship unbeknownst to her, but Joe seemingly behaves submissive to please her.
This is noted at the fact that when she demands he leave her be after stalking her in the park, he does at least outwardly show that they've broken up. He does still stalk her online and off but he doesn't directly harass her and so to her, he doesn't appear to be that sort of pestering bothersome guy that can't be told no. Instead he looks like the understanding boyfriend.
In fact, their relationship only ends because of the recorded session Joe listens to on the therapist's laptop. Joe decides at that point that Beck has made a valid case for why their relationship must end and he agrees, on his terms! Which means if he hadn't agreed with her, that'd he go and plot some way to get back with her. Which he would of done successfully because Beck shows through numerous times in the show that Joe is a sort of emotional crutch for her, someone that loves and cares for unconditional unlike all the other men in her life.
The final episode is the table flip, Joe goes full on crazy and Beck goes from worshipped idol to caged bird. Poor Beck is dehumanised, trapped in that glass prison, fed food from a one way transfer box and the only company she has is the psycho who trapped her there.
In the end, Beck is a character you'll feel most sorry for in the whole show. (Probably more so than Paco, that kid appeared to have a happy ending). Her life is a mess until this chap comes into it and slowly it comes together, she breaks her writers block and finally gets that book deal and the respect of her peers. She finds this man that she can confess her love to and despite her infidelity, he accepts her and forgives her.
But in the end, there is no happiness for Beck or a charming prince to carry her off into the sunset. Her life untimely and savagely ends, she is the greatest victim of all in the show.
Her life ends at the hands of the man that less than 24 hours prior to her incarceration confessed he loved her...
During that tense moment Joe chases her in the bookshop cellar and she clubs him round the head grazingly, I was practically shouting at the screen, "whack him again!". If I was her in that situation I would be swinging down on Joe's head a few more times to make sure the bastards dead. Multi-murderer who trapped me in a cage? Yeah, I'm going to make sure you never get back up. But those mean old writers had it in for you Beck.
NITPICKS AND FINAL THOUGHTS
Like most things, this show takes some liberties and characters do things that make no sense, like the aforementioned one swing Beck. But here are my nitpicks:
1) After Beck stabs Joe with the typewriter key and locks him in the class cage, she runs off leaving the set of keys still in the door's lock. When she comes down Joe has freed himself and taunts her, saying that after all the times Mooney locked him in he kept a spare key hidden inside. You cannot put a key into a lock that already has a set of keys in the opposite side of lock.
2) After Peaches shot Joe, she approaches and gives him and kick and circles him, she clearly can see the bullet graze on his leg but assumes he is dead and walks off. Besides, in reality I think Joe would be wailing in agony, that thigh shot did some damage.
3) How did Joe shoot Peaches after that struggle to make it look like suicide. He was atop her back, and she was on her front which meant he probably would have shot her in the back of the head, but wouldn't have the time in the moment to make it look like suicide.
4) How did no cop find the blood covered rock Joe whacked Peaches with feet away from her, covered in fingerprints.
5) After working with Joe for so many years, has Ethan never found it strange that Joe's ex's fling died, then Joe's ex disappears, then Joe's current girlfriend's friend dies and then Joe's girlfriend dies. That's a lot of fatalities surrounding one man. I'd be freaking suspicious. And all this I think is supposed to have happened within what, a year or so?
6) Candace is alive! She hints that Joe tried to kill her, so where did that social media account with all that Italy content come from? He seemed surprised to see her, so did he photoshop Candace into pictures and then upload them ever so often? That's a convoluted lie by huge proportions.
So You was a fun show to watch, I'm not sure it's for everyone because it does spend more time being a romantic drama/comedy than it does a thriller. But I like character development and thought all the actors involved did a great job, especially Penn Badgley who has slipped on the role of Joe Goldberg like a glove. He did a great job of making the character both sympathetic and abhorrent.
Looking forward to season 2.
